Improvement in boiler-feeders



- 2Sheets--Sheet1. H. HOWE.

Boiler-Feeders.

N9.l55,870. Patented Oct 13,1874.

'WIZIZNESSES.. IN VENTOR 001/ Q g W Attorneys.

(E GRAPHIC C(LPHOYD -LITH. 398k PARK PLACE,N1Y

2 Sheets -ShegtZ.

n nowa. Boiler-Feeders.

gg mv ssEs. INVENTOR Attorneys.

THE GRAPHIC CO. FHOTO'UTHJBSL I PARK PLACE, "I.

'JNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGEL HENRY HOWE, OF COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA,ASSIGNOR TO JAMES YOUNG, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOILER-FEEDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 155,870, dated October13, 1 74; application filed May 9, 1874 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY HOWE, of Council Bluffs, in the county ofPottawattamie and in the State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new anduseful Improvements in Boiler-Feeders; and do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, making a part of this specification.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction and arrangementof an automatic boiler-feeder, as will be hereinafter more fully setforth.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view of myboiler-feeder; and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of thesame.

A and A represent two waterchests of any suitable dimensions. This maybe made in one vessel or case, with a central partition, to form the twowater-chests. The chests A A communicate through the bottom by ports aa,respectively, with a steam-chest, B, underneath, in which is aslide-valve, C, with ports so arranged that when the port a is open theport a is closed, and vice versa. Above the water-chests A A is anothersteam-chest, D, provided with an interior sliding valve, E. This valveis provided with a central port, I), passing vertically through it, andnear the ends on the under side with half-moon shaped ports 01 d. Thevalve covers four ports, 0 e and ff, the two former leading directlydown into the two water-chests A A, respectively, and the ports f fcommnnicatin g with the pipe G leading down into the well orwater-supply. The valve E, with its ports, and the ports from thesteam-chest D, are so arranged that when the port I) of the valve isplaced over the port 6, as shown in Fig. 2, the port f is closed, andthe ports 6 and f connected by the port d of the valve. And when thevalve is moved to the other side, and the port 12 gets over the port 6,the port f is closed, and the ports 6 and f connected by the port d inthe valve. H is the pipe, which conveys steam from the boiler to theupper steam-chest D. The lower steam-chest B is also connected with theboiler by a pipe, I, which is provided with a stopcock, h, and is toextend down to the waterlevel inthe boiler. The water-chests A A arerespectively provided with stop-cocks m m, to 'allow the air therein toescape.

The operation of this device is as follows: Supposing the steam is up,ready to start the machinery, the valves C and E are moved into theposition shown in Fig. 2, which will let the steam into the water-chestA from the boiler. The stop-cock m is then turned to let the air in saidwater-chest escape, after which it is closed again. The chest A thenbecomes filled with compressed steam. Both valves are now moved to theopposite side, when the steam in the chest A will force its way throughthe ports 0 d f into the pipe G, leading to the well or water-supply,and condense, and thus form a vacuum, so that the pressure of theatmosphere will force the Water from the well through the pipe G andports f d 6 into the water-chest A, an d fill the same. During thisoperation the water-chest A is filled with steam in the same manner. Thevalves C E are now moved back again, when the steam from above and thewater from the boiler below will press on the water in the chest A withequal force, but as the water is above the boiler its own gravity willcause it to force its way down into the boiler. While the chest A isemptying the chest A is being filled, and so on alternately, oneemptying and one filling all the time the valves are in operation..

The valves are to be operated by the machinery at suitable intervals,and as the steampipe is to extend down into the boiler to thewater-level, the operation will be automatic, the device acting onlywhen the water gets below the level, and allows steam to enter thesteam-pipe.

The above operation is when using cold water, but when hot water is usedthere are to be two side pipes at the upper steam-chest, and two sets ofhalf-moon ports cut in the upper valve, one on each side, one set toadmit the hot water, which must be elevated above this apparatus, andthe other to let the steam escape while the chests are filling withwater. Otherwise it is made the same for cold or hot water.

This device can be started easily and quickly, and without any waste ofhot Water, and v the flow of water can be regulated as wanted. There isa great saving of power, as there is no friction except the moving ofthe valves by the machinery-say, about once per minute. The atmosphereis brought into requisition to force the water from the Well, thussaving a second pump to bring up the Water. valves will not stick, andthere is no danger of the water freezing in the pipes, either whenrunning or standing, as the water can be let out of the chests by meansof the stop-cocks m m, and when running there is enough steam escapesthrough the water-pipe to keep" from'freezing. Another advantage isthat, as the boiler can be always completely supplied with a sufficiencyof water, it is a perfect safeguard against explosions.

,Having thus fully described my invention,

HENRY HOWE.

Witnesses:

J. D. EDMUNDsoN,

L. SQUIRE.

